Monkey adjusting: diabetes explained to a jealous sibling
I had a very odd conversation with Eric's brother Nate last night. It seems Nate, who's nearly 8, has become a bit jealous of the "attention" his brother gets from me. Even pointing out that a lot of this attention involved me poking Eric with sharp objects, or not letting him eat until I was sure his blood sugar was going down, it was clear that Nate felt that "Mama likes Eric" better than she "likes Nate."
"What makes you think that?" I asked finally.
"Well," he said, a bit tremulously, "You come to the school MUCH more often to see Eric than you come to see me."
"Oh, Nate," I said. "I'm not coming to see Eric. I'm coming to see the monkey."
The tears stopped. The brow crinkled. Confusion, instead of self-pity. Good.
"What monkey?"
"Don't you see the monkey Eric has? He carries it with him everywhere. It's called diabetes, and it's a nasty little creature. If it gets hungry, it spins Eric around and round till he's dizzy and sick. Sometimes it gets too much to eat and then it acts wild and dances on his head, which makes Eric have a headache and run around just to try to get the monkey to fall off. It bites him on the finger every few hours, and sometimes it bites him on the BUTT. And at school, because it's important that the monkey stay quiet, several times a day, Eric has to go to the School Monkey Adjuster to have it dealt with."
"Monkey Adjuster?"
"Mrs. Sanborn [the school nurse]."
"Oh."
"I only come to the school to help with monkey adjusting if it's behaving especially bad. And because the monkey goes wherever Eric goes, Eric has to come with it to the office so we can make the adjustment. It's a real nuisance, and I'm sure Eric would just as soon not have to deal with his monkey." [Eric, bless him, nodded vigorously at this point.] "But I hope you realize, I don't come to the school to see ERIC. I come to the school to see the MONKEY. I would far, FAR rather be able to ignore the monkey, but if I ignore him, he makes Eric suffer. So believe me when I tell you, I'm not at all excited about seeing the monkey."
He thought about this. "Mom, will that monkey ever go away?"
"I sure hope so, someday, but he'll be around for a while I'm afraid. Diabetes monkeys are hard to get rid of."
More thought. "Hey, maybe I could become a monkey adjuster when I grow up!"
"Maybe you could, Nate. But I kind of hope that by the time you grow up, they won't need monkey adjusters."
"Yeah, me too."
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Comment by Elizabeth on December 3, 2012 at 8:06am -
The monkey analogy came in handy again this morning when Eric was low (54). Nate wanted to know why Eric was so cranky, so I reminded him of the monkey and said that bad monkey was spinning Eric's brain. He wanted to know why that was a problem and I told him to go twirl around in the hallway for 10 minutes. He lasted about 1 before he was falling over with dizziness.
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Comment by Elizabeth on December 3, 2012 at 8:16am
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Oh, isn't this odd! I got curious about what Peter Gabriel meant by "shock the monkey," looked up the song online, and according to his biographer, the song is about... jealousy!
"Gabriel himself has described "Shock the Monkey" as "a love song" that examines how jealousy can release one's baser instincts; the monkey is not a literal monkey, but a metaphor for one's feelings of jealousy." -Chris Welch (1998). The Secret Life of Peter Gabriel: p.136
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Comment by Trudy on December 3, 2012 at 12:54pm -
Hi Elizabeth. If you are going to write a children's book based on your post (and I think you should!), it would seem to me to be a good idea to do something about it very soon before your idea is picked up by someone else. Good luck!
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Comment by caloparr on December 3, 2012 at 7:07pm -
Oh wow! Elizabeth, try not to get pressured, or it will destroy and frustrate your creativity. I suggest you protect your title, phrase, and theme with the government's trademark office. That will give you the time you need.
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Comment by Elizabeth on December 4, 2012 at 9:33am
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I am going to write it this weekend, actually. But your idea is a good one. And as far as pressure is concerned... parents of CWD are immune to outside pressures. It's the damn monkey that has us in its merciless grip.
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Comment by Spring on December 4, 2012 at 9:52am -
Elizabeth,the game from way back-operation-where if you miss it makes a noise..well add one of a monkey in your book and we can zing his butt !! :0
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Comment by Elizabeth on December 4, 2012 at 9:57am
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Shock the monkey indeed. I'd like to take a cattle prod to the little SOB. See my most recent post for why... :)
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Comment by Linda G on December 4, 2012 at 7:15pm -
Awwww....this was AWESOME!! So well written...it brought tears to my eyes!
You truly have a way with words...and a gift in reaching out to children. You should look into writing a book...."The Monkey".
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